Remember Dollar Shave Club? It's the service that delivers fresh razors to your doorstep, monthly, for a fraction of the cost of the grocery-store equivalent. They had a killer viral video (above), but their high quality razors? Looks like they come from an online store called Dorco, and guess what: Buying directly from Dorco, you get the same great razors for about a third of the cost of Dollar Shave Club.

Everyone knows shaving's a racket. Manufacturer's make blades for pennies, mark them up…
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That's what friend-of-Lifehacker and former editor of The Consumerist Ben Popken discovered when he dug into Dollar Shave Club. The main catch: You have to buy in bulk rather than receive your monthly supply.

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In order to get the best deal, you need to make a bulk purchase about the size of a Kleenex box. Consider: The highest-end Dollar Shave Club razor is "The Executive," with six stainless-steel blades, lube strips and a pivoting head, runs $90 over 10 months (razor plus 3 catridges per month). Dorco sells a six-blade model with the same features, the SXA1000. Buying directly from Dorco, a 10-month supply — the razor plus 30 cartridges — costs just $28.66.

Popken later discovers that Dorco actually is the supplier for Dollar Shave Club's six-blade razor. So what do you get with Dollar Shave Club that you don't get buying bulk at Dorco?

[Dollar Shave CEO Michael] Dubin said his service offers greater "convenience." "Are there similar razors out there? Sure. But our goal is to create value." I pointed out that I can get the Dorco razors delivered conveniently to my front door, too. "Not once a month," he said.

Fair enough. For the money, I think I can carve out a tissue box worth of space to store all those cheap razors. For anyone interested in trying the same route, I'm not sure if this is the exact combination Popken found, but this six-blade handle with 10 cartridges ($10.50) plus this six-pack of six cartridges ($17.99) got me to $30 at checkout, which is essentially the same situation. I think I can do without the monthly delivery from Dollar Shave Club.

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Update: Dollar Shave Club writes in:

Bottom line, if people want to buy in bulk, there's a bazillion other places on the web to do that. Dollar Shave Club offers value beyond just the price of blades & convenience.

Fair enough. My biggest frustration with DSC was that I don't like the idea of that recurring monthly bill, especially since to me, razor blades aren't like clockwork. Getting the same blades from Dorco in bulk, for me, actually is more convenient. Obviously you should choose whichever sounds better to you, as well.

Note: As always, when we discuss razors, I'm obligated by our (very correct) commenters to point out that you'll never find a less expensive way to shave than this classic.